All A Heart Needs B&N (6 page)

He realized his mistake a second too late. "An hour ago," he admitted. "Mom asked me to take a ladder over to Jessica." He didn't like the sudden gleam in his sister's eyes. "It was a favor to Mom. That's all it was."

"Sure, whatever you say."

"Anyway, when I stepped into that house, it was like I stepped into the past."

"Isn't the inside different now?"

"It was different, but also the same. And the memories were still there. I spent a lot of time in that house with Stacy."

The teapot began to sing, and Emma took it off the stove. She poured the hot water over a teabag and then brought it back to the counter. "If you don't want to talk to Dad, you could talk to Mom. I'm sure Dad spoke to her about the findings."

"I'd rather just look at the report and not get them involved." He finished his juice and set the glass down. "I have to get to practice."

"You guys were great last night."

"It was a good show. Glad you enjoyed it."

"You're playing in Russian Hill tonight, right?"

"Yeah. Are you coming?"

"No, tonight is for my husband. We're going to spend some quality naked time together."

He rolled his eyes. "You're over-sharing again, Emma."

She laughed. "I'm just being honest."

"You look happy. You're really in love, aren't you?"

"So much I can barely believe it. And to think I almost lost Max. I don't know how I would have survived."

He nodded, thinking back to Emma's wedding day, when just before the ceremony, Max and his brother, Spencer, had been caught in a bank robbery. Max had been shot, and he'd come very close to dying, but luckily he'd survived. Two weeks later was able to exchange vows with Emma. "Is Max completely back to normal now?"

"He's a hundred percent, thank goodness."

"How's his brother doing?"

"Spencer is in culinary school. He's going to be a chef."

"Good for him."

"And he has a girlfriend."

"Wait, let me guess, the beautiful redhead from the bank?"

"Yes, the woman who helped Spencer save Max's life—Hallie Cooper."

He shook his head in amazement. "Talk about an unlikely place to fall in love."

"You never know when you're going to meet the right person. And sometimes they don't seem like the right person at first. I didn't like Max at all in the beginning. He was arrogant and territorial about his cases."

"And you're not?" he challenged.

"I might be territorial, but I am not arrogant. Of course, I soon found out that Max was just being a jerk because he was trying not to fall in love with me. Why do guys do that?"

He could not begin to answer that question, especially since he'd been guilty of it himself, and recently, too. But he was not falling in love with Jessica. No way. That wasn't going to happen. He slid off the stool and stood up. "Thanks again for the help."

"I haven't helped you yet."

"You'll call me when you find out anything?"

"Yes, but it won't be until Monday."

"That's fine."

"I'll see you tomorrow though."

He sighed. "What's tomorrow?"

"Wow. You really don't listen to anything that includes the word family and event, do you?"

"Just tell me."

"Tomorrow Ryan is throwing Nicole a birthday dinner at their house. It starts at six. Everyone will be there." She gave him a mischievous smile. "Including Jessica. But since you're just friends, that won't be a problem, will it?"

Jessica spent the rest of Saturday setting up Kyle's bedroom and then her own. Despite the headache of having to move again, she was happy to have a house in a good neighborhood with a yard for Kyle to play in. Even though the house had been touched by tragedy, it had all happened a long time ago, and she couldn't let herself get caught up in that. She was determined to make a good home for Kyle and for herself.

It was close to midnight when she was finally done unpacking her clothes. She grabbed two empty boxes and took them downstairs. There was a side door off the kitchen that led to the driveway and the recycle and garbage bins. As she put the boxes in the plastic container, she heard a voice on the other side of the fence. She couldn't see through the shrubbery, but it sounded like Sally was talking to someone.

She moved a little closer, hearing only Sally's voice and no one else's. Maybe she was on the phone.

"I don't know if there's anything to be found," Sally said.

The odd tense words caught Jessica's interest. What was Sally talking about?

There was silence for another moment. Then Sally said, "I know it's been years, and nothing has ever come to light, but I can't help but worry now that someone else is in the house and going through Helen's things. Maybe Helen never really looked through Robert's belongings." She paused again. "Yes, I asked Helen a bunch of times if I could help her, but she always said no."

Jessica frowned. What on earth was Sally talking about? And why was she having a conversation on the phone while standing in her driveway a little before midnight? The only answer was that she didn't want her husband to hear.

"I thought this was over," Sally said, frustration in her voice. "I am not crazy to worry. Maybe you should be a little worried. I'm not the only one with secrets." She paused again. "Okay, I'll talk to you later."

A moment later, Jessica heard footsteps, then a door closing. Sally had gone into the house.

She let out the breath she'd been holding, not sure what to make of what she'd heard. Sally was worried that she was in Helen's house, going through Helen's things? Why? What was there to be found?

And to whom had Sally been speaking? Because according to Sally, she wasn't the only one who had a secret or who should be worried.

A shiver ran down Jessica's spine. What on earth had she landed in the middle of? Was this about the fire? But it was so long ago, and Sally had had years to get into Helen's house, to find whatever she was worried about being found. Still, what else could Sally have been talking about? She'd mentioned Robert's name. If it had to do with him, then it had to do with the fire.

Did Sally know something about that fire that Sean didn't? Or was Jessica just letting her imagination run wild after a few whispers on a dark night?

A cold breeze blew through the trees, lifting the hair off the back of her neck. She shivered, the shadows from the tall trees suddenly giving her charming neighborhood a more eerie atmosphere. She hurried into the house and locked the door behind her.

She reminded herself that Helen had lived in the house without incident for two decades. There was no reason anything should be different now.

Or was there?

Helen was no longer living in the house; she was.

* * *

Jessica woke up Sunday morning feeling just as tired as when she'd gone to bed. After getting herself worked up the night before, she hadn't been able to fall asleep for hours. Every little creak seemed as loud as a gunshot. Her dreams were filled with whispering voices and fiery flames. She'd felt the heat of a fire, and thick smoke had seared her lungs as she'd run for her life, probably much the way Stacy had done. Poor Stacy! How terrified she must have been. And how terrified Sean must have been when he saw his friend on fire.

As her thoughts turned to Sean, she felt a mix of emotions. Putting her hand to her lips, she remembered the firm pressure of his mouth, the heat between them, the passion. They needed to stay away from each other, but so far they were not doing a very good job of that. She'd started things off on the wrong note with her impulsive kiss on Friday night, and he'd taken it to another level yesterday, but today they needed to put the brakes on.

They were going to be a part of each other's lives forever. It would be smarter to keep their relationship at the friend level. And she was a mom; she couldn't afford to be driven by passion. If she was going to be with someone, it had to be the right someone, a man who would stick around, who would be good for her and for Kyle.

Getting out of bed, she took a long shower and then made herself breakfast. She was just finishing up her oatmeal and blueberries when she heard a car pull into the driveway. She went out the side door and smiled as Kyle jumped out of the passenger seat of Nicole's car and ran towards her, a huge joyous grin on his face. She wasn't surprised. Her six-year-old, blond, blue-eyed boy was almost always smiling.

Kyle loved life. He was curious about everything, always had a million questions, and thrived on meeting new people. She was lucky that he was such a resilient child, because he'd certainly been through some pain in his young life. His teenaged birth mother had been forced to give him away. Then his adoptive mother had died of cancer, and his adoptive father had died in an accident a few years later. Now he was living with her, and despite the fact that there was no blood between them, it was as if they'd been mother and son forever.

"Mom, I'm going to play on a baseball team," Kyle announced. "Look, I already got a mitt."

She looked at the weathered leather mitt in his hand. "Where did you get that?"

"Brandon's dad gave it to me. He said it used to be his when he was a kid. I told him I'd share it with Brandon," Kyle added, glancing over his shoulder at his brother. Brandon stood next to the car, not looking at all sure about coming any closer.

Brandon was the mirror image of Kyle, but he was a faded version, a little paler, less energetic, and there was rarely any light in his eyes. On occasion, there was a spark, usually when he was doing something with Kyle. Nicole had told her that the sparks came more often now than they had before, but Jessica had no frame of reference.

"Brandon isn't sure he wants to play," Kyle said, turning back to Jessica. "But I think he'll like it once we start practicing. Ryan is going to coach us."

"That's exciting." She glanced at Nicole, who had encouraged Brandon to walk down the driveway with her. "So a baseball team, huh?"

"It was all Ryan's idea," Nicole said, a smile in her eyes. "He took Brandon and Kyle to the park by the recreation center yesterday, and they were having signups for T-Ball. I know he should have asked you first. But you can get Kyle out of it if you want to."

"It's fine. I'm sure Kyle wanted to sign up."

"Can I show Brandon my new room?" Kyle interrupted.

"Of course. It's all ready for you." Kyle had seen the house once but not with his own bedroom furniture in it. She hoped he was going to like it.

"Come on, Brandon," Kyle said. "I still have the bunk beds. We can make a fort like we did in the last place."

Brandon didn't say anything, but when Kyle grabbed his hand he went along with him into the house.

Nicole let out a sigh, relief in her blue eyes. "One hurdle down. I wasn't sure how Brandon would handle your new house. He doesn't like change."

Jessica nodded. In the past three months, she'd come to understand the challenges that Nicole faced every day in dealing with Brandon's autism. There were few easy moments, and Jessica felt so much admiration for Nicole and Ryan, too. They'd had some bumps in their marriage dealing with the stress of a special needs child, but they'd come through those hard times together.

"I thank God every day that we found Kyle," Nicole added. "For three years, I searched for a way to link Brandon to the world. I just couldn't connect with him. No one could. But Kyle is the link. Through his twin brother, Brandon can communicate in a way that he can't do with anyone else."

"It is kind of amazing how in tune they are."

"I wonder sometimes if Brandon would have slipped into autism if he'd had his brother with him all along, because he was perfect until he was two years old. Then the lights in his head went out."

"Hopefully, they're coming back on."

"I think they might be, and it's because of you and Kyle."

She shook her head. "You have to stop thanking me, Nicole. We're in this together. Kyle may not be autistic, but he needs Brandon, too. And he also gets to have you and Ryan, which is also wonderful."

"Ryan is in heaven that he's going to get to coach Kyle in baseball. He's wanted to do those kinds of dad things all along, but with Brandon, he couldn't. With Kyle around, it's like we're real parents again." She frowned. "That didn't come out exactly right. I don't want you to think that we're trying to steal Kyle from you, or that I don't love Brandon, because I love him more than anything. He's my son, no matter what condition he's in."

"You don't have to watch your words with me. I understand. When the boys are together, it feels right, because it is right. They're brothers. They were always supposed to be with each other. And we all get something out of our extended family."

Relief flashed in Nicole's eyes. "I'm so glad you feel that way. I'm going to head out now. I'll see you at the party. Come whenever you want. And if Brandon wants to leave sooner, just give a call, and either Ryan or I will come by and get him."

"I will, but I think we'll be fine."

As Nicole left, Jessica walked down the driveway to pick up the Sunday newspaper. Apparently, Helen hadn't stopped the paper when she moved out. As Jessica reached the sidewalk, she saw the curtain fall in the front window of the house across the street, as if someone had been watching her. A shiver shot down her spine, reminding her of how unsettled she'd felt the night before when she'd heard Sally's conversation.

She was about to turn away when the front door of that house opened and a man stepped out. He was in his late forties or early fifties she thought. He was attractive with dark hair and a deep tan. He wore tan slacks and a cream-colored polo shirt and moved with a quick step. He was halfway across the street before she realized he was coming to talk to her.

"Hello," he said with a friendly smile. "You must be my new neighbor. I'm Brett Murphy."

"Jessica Schilling," she said, shaking his hand. He had a firm confident grip.

"Did I see twin boys run into the house a moment ago?"

"Uh, yes," she said, deciding the twins separated at birth story could wait for another time. "Kyle and Brandon. They're six. You have a son, too, don't you?"